Whenever Rachin Ravindra, the New Zealand top order batter, steps on the field here on Wednesday for the first Test against India, he will bring with him that reassuring ‘home ground’ feeling as he knows pretty much everything about Bengaluru. After all, his origins are very much rooted in this city. His father and mother, Ravi Krishnamurthy and Deepa, are from this city and his grandparents T. Balakrishna Adiga, a revered academic, and Poornima still live here which calls for a nice family get together before the match as well.
“Playing a Test is rather different. There is a five-day span and one knows that it is a sport with some histories, as in, Test cricket is the highest form of it. I guess it makes it all the more important because of the blood ties,” explains Ravindra.
Ravi, who is the father of Rachin, has traveled from Wellington to see his son in what can be termed as Test cricket, in that city where Rachin has spent most of his young years and played club cricket.
“There will a be a bunch of them in the crowd and I know Dad will be here watching. So those moments, you know, you pinch yourself on the journey and for this it’s definitely one,” Ravindra said.
The 24 years old age young man may have lived in Wellington all his life, but the ‘Indianness’ in him, still glows and shines with a strong radiance.
“I am born and brought up in Wellington, you know, I am a Kiwi all the way through. So, for me, it is wonderful and I take great pride in my Indian roots and being able to play in a place where a lot of my family is located is quite significant,” he added.
Test cricket along with family
This isn’t the first time for Ravindra to play in Bengaluru, however.
The elegant southpaw once stepped out at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium during the ODI World Cup last year and scored a century – 108 runs against Pakistan. Later on, he made his appearance at the same ground in IPL 2024 donning the deep yellow jersey of the Chennai Super Kings.
Ravindra was reminded of those incidents.
“Yeah, it’s cool, I think. Obviously, the last time I was here, when I was here last, well I guess that was the IPL and even before that it was the ODI World Cup. So two stomping experiences to have, part of two really good teams and had those,” he stated.
But then again, Ravindra would understand that the feeling of coming back home is one of those feelings that will always carry some warmth even after having done it a thousand and one times.
